Web Stories

Symposium focuses on marine life history, April 29

Posted April 25, 2005; 05:20 p.m.

by Dana Crum

"Lives of the Sea," a symposium on the history of
marine life, is scheduled for 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, April 29, in 101 Icahn
Lab. The event will bring together scientists and historians who are concerned
with the changing character of marine environments.

D. Graham Burnett, a Princeton
historian of science and the organizer of the symposium, will serve as
moderator and offer introductory remarks.

"This gathering represents an effort to draw scientists
and historians into conversation," Burnett said. "In the last few
years there have been controversies over different techniques for establishing
pre-exploitation baseline values for several marine populations, particularly
whales. Some of these techniques rely on actual historical source material;
others make use of genetic sampling and are independent of archival catch data.
Interdisciplinary work is essential to reconcile the discrepancies. These sorts
of conflicts between different scientific techniques are particularly
interesting to historians of science, but I would hope that this event would be
valuable to anyone concerned with marine conservation, ocean science or policy
issues."